"I was hacked overnight!" Mr Pyne tweeted on Thursday morning, noting he was asleep at 2am when the pornographic image was "liked".

"Someone tried to hack my social media yesterday. Maybe they are making mischief over the plebiscite?"

Mr Pyne's account has since removed the post, but not everybody was buying his explanation.

"I don't think so darling. Welcome to the club," one Twitter user replied.

More than 100 people responded within hours of the minister trying to pour cold water on the situation.

"Mate, even my 3yo knows when he's been naughty. Be accountable for your own actions," posted another.

Several pointed out the peculiar tactic of hacking an account to "like" one rogue tweet.

"Hahaha ... funny as. The hacker got in and liked one post," one user said.

"Yeah. This is the most common thing hackers do. Be careful everyone!" warned another.

Some pointed to the gravity of the situation.

"It's quite serious if the accounts of the Minister for Defence Industry have been compromised," one person said.

"You should request that the AFP and other relevant authorities investigate."

It is not the first time a high profile figure has fallen prey to porn-liking hackers. Earlier this year, the Australian Border Force was asked to explain why Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg's Twitter account liked a pornographic tweet.

It came after United States Republican Senator Ted Cruz was also forced to explain his account "liking" a pornographic post in September.

Senator Cruz blamed the "inadvertent mistake" not on hackers but rather "a staffing issue."